The Vaccines’ sixth studio album is the epitome of what they do best: ’60s-inspired classicist guitar pop filtered through new wave, with equal parts euphoria and melancholy.
A formula that works and has worked in all these years of an honored rock career but which is perhaps becoming a little too repetitive.
Justin Young’s loud voice, the guitarist and wave attitude of the sound mix and the singable refrains that work so well in live performances always hold it all together.
Beautiful, alternative, alternative, yes, but perhaps that something innovative and different that would be needed to definitively consecrate the band in the restricted Olympian of hype indie-rock bands is missing.
QUOTES
You got undressed
You stepped into the fire out of protest
Now everything burns and you blew it
It was right on your lips
So now you’re waiting
It’s a function of time, oscillating
You’ve got nowhere to go when you’re growing up
The road never ends
SCORE TRACK BY TRACK: Rating 6.50
01 Sometimes, I Swear – Rating 6.75
02 Heartbreak Kid – Rating 7.00
03 Lunar Eclipse – Rating 7.50
04 Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing) – Rating 7.15
05 Primitive Man – Rating 7.00
06 Sunkissed – Rating 6.75
07 Another Nightmare – Rating 6.00
08 Love to Walk Away Rating 7.50
09 Dreamer – Rating 6.00
10 Anonymous in Los Feliz – Rating 6.00
THE VOTES OF OTHERS
Diy Magazine – Rating 7.00
Uncut – Rating 7.00
Nme – Rating 6.00
The Telegraph – Rating 6.00
The Guardian: Rating 6.00
TO LISTEN NOW
Lunar Eclipse – Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing) – Love to Walk Away
TO BE SKIPPED IMMEDIATELY
The limit of the album is perhaps that one listen is enough. I have a handful of songs left that I would like to hear again.
TRACKLIST
THE DISCOGRAPHY
2011 – What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?
2012 – Come of Age
2015 – English Graffiti
2018 – Combat Sports
2021 – Back in Love City
2024 – Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations
